Aston Villa manager Tim Sherwood has told the Birmingham Mail that he wants his side to emulate Southampton and Everton.

Villa have toiled against relegation again this season, but Sherwood has high hopes for the future of the football club.

He feels that they currently have a squad that is built to challenge for the European places and believes that he can get them competing at the right end of the Premier League table during his tenure at Villa Park.

"We want to put ourselves right up there with the Southampton’s and Everton’s of this world," he said.

“I don’t think that’s unrealistic, even with the group of players that we’ve got. If we add a few to that as well – giving me the opportunity to work with these players in pre-season it will help.”

To emulate Southampton and Everton, Villa still have a lot of work to do, but they have the core of a good group.

The Claret and Blues have more quality in their ranks than their league position suggests and it will be up to Sherwood to do a better job of maximising their potential than Paul Lambert.

So far Sherwood has got Villa playing a much more attacking brand of football than before and they appear to be a threat to every side in the division.

Villa have beaten the likes of Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool recently, while they have also given Manchester City a scare.

Their Premier League safety is still not entirely secure, though, and if Sherwood really does want to emulate Southampton and Everton in the near future, then his first objective will be to keep the side in the top-flight.

John Verrall

John is a sports journalism graduate from Staffordshire University. He is a huge football fan and a minute-by-minute writer for UEFA.com, as well as being a freelance writer for Sports New Media. John has also seen his work been published by the likes of The Guardian, World Soccer and Shoot Magazine over the course of his bourgeoning journalism career so far. He has a particular expertise in all things to do with the Football League – and is a passionate Peterborough United fan.